TY - JOUR
T1 - Pharmacotherapy of cerebral ischemia
AU - Ducruet, Andrew F.
AU - Grobelny, Bartosz T.
AU - Zacharia, Brad
AU - Hickman, Zachary L.
AU - Yeh, Mason L.
AU - Connolly, E. Sander
PY - 2009/8/1
Y1 - 2009/8/1
N2 - Background: Ischemic stroke remains one of the leading causes of death and disability in the developed world. Despite many promising preclinical results, the only pharmacologic treatments proven effective in improving clinical outcome following ischemic stroke until now are administration of aspirin and acute thrombolysis using tissue-plasminogen activator. Objective: To review currently approved pharmacologic therapies as well as promising future treatment strategies for acute ischemic stroke. Methods: We performed an exhaustive PubMed search for articles published from 1950 through 2009 describing pharmacotherapy of acute ischemic stroke, focusing on agents that are currently in Phase III trials or approved for clinical use. Following this review, we present our interpretation of the existing literature and our vision of the future of pharmacotherapy for ischemic stroke. Results/conclusions: Since the clinical success of the first intravenous thrombolytic, many studies have sought to further characterize the ideal patient population and to extend the therapeutic time window for pharmacologic thrombolysis. Additionally, despite the many failures of neuroprotective trials, several promising agents are currently undergoing Phase III investigation. With the advent of interventional techniques enabling local delivery of therapeutics into the region of the thrombus, the future of pharmacotherapy for ischemic stroke will probably include a combination of interventional techniques and pharmacotherapy.
AB - Background: Ischemic stroke remains one of the leading causes of death and disability in the developed world. Despite many promising preclinical results, the only pharmacologic treatments proven effective in improving clinical outcome following ischemic stroke until now are administration of aspirin and acute thrombolysis using tissue-plasminogen activator. Objective: To review currently approved pharmacologic therapies as well as promising future treatment strategies for acute ischemic stroke. Methods: We performed an exhaustive PubMed search for articles published from 1950 through 2009 describing pharmacotherapy of acute ischemic stroke, focusing on agents that are currently in Phase III trials or approved for clinical use. Following this review, we present our interpretation of the existing literature and our vision of the future of pharmacotherapy for ischemic stroke. Results/conclusions: Since the clinical success of the first intravenous thrombolytic, many studies have sought to further characterize the ideal patient population and to extend the therapeutic time window for pharmacologic thrombolysis. Additionally, despite the many failures of neuroprotective trials, several promising agents are currently undergoing Phase III investigation. With the advent of interventional techniques enabling local delivery of therapeutics into the region of the thrombus, the future of pharmacotherapy for ischemic stroke will probably include a combination of interventional techniques and pharmacotherapy.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=68149183422&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=68149183422&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1517/14656560903055095
DO - 10.1517/14656560903055095
M3 - Review article
C2 - 19514865
AN - SCOPUS:68149183422
SN - 1465-6566
VL - 10
SP - 1895
EP - 1906
JO - Expert Opinion on Pharmacotherapy
JF - Expert Opinion on Pharmacotherapy
IS - 12
ER -